Turn Back Time
by Fatherfail
Summary: Lucy was murdered. Natsu has been defeated by depression. One day, he finds a pocketwatch in the forest in his backyard. He finds comfort in it, but the watch is something that will pull Natsu deeper into depression. NaLu-ish.
1. Chapter 1

_The year was never properly recorded. Nobody really cared. The loss of one of the most famous mages in the world was enough to make society grind to a halt. But more importantly, it was the loss of a friend. The friend that went on missions with them, laughed with them, ate with them, and shared memories with them. Nobody knew her death would impact the guild so significantly. Enemies put aside their hatred as they came together to mourn the loss of a friend and rival: Lucy Heartfilia._

It did not rain on that day. It was warm and sunny, unfitting for a funeral. But nobody cared. Today was the day they put a dear friend and rival to rest. Those who came to the funeral stayed strong. Lucy would not have wanted them to cry over her. Natsu was the one who tried the hardest. As Lucy's coffin was lowered into the ground, he was visibly shaking. Gray and Elfman stood next to him, Gray finally wearing clothes for once. The two men helped Natsu walk up to the grave and look down at the coffin that lay in the ground, half covered with brown dirt. Not a single tear dropped from Natsu's eyes as he sighed deeply and turned away from the coffin.

The funeral had not been long. The guests had come, a speech was made by Gildartz and then the queen made a speech*. Everyone tried their hardest not to cry. Levy had died years before Lucy, but Lucy's death, was no accident. It had been a cold calculated murder. Her keys were stolen, and the entire guild had fallen into depression at this news. The other members of the guild were filing past the grave now, some tears falling as they passed. But Natsu stayed strong. Gildartz soon stepped up to give the final speech, all eyes turning towards the white and ginger haired man as he spoke the final words of the funeral.

"Lucy, if you were here to witness your friends grieving over you, your heart would be broken. We do not want bring sad memories when we say your name, we want happy memories. So we will keep our memories in our hearts and minds! Lucy, we pray that you are resting in a better place than this cold world."

_The funeral was one month ago. The guild was slowly moving on. But Natsu was still out of it. He became detached to the rest of the guild and he had not left his house in a very long time. The whole guild was worried, but they thought Natsu would eventually come around…_

Natsu Dragneel was very, very ill. It was not like him to be sick, but he was not sick in the body, he was sick in the mind. Lucy's death had greatly impacted him. He did not speak very often, he never smiled, and he never saw his friends after the funeral. He was beyond comfort. So when Natsu left the house to go into the woods behind the house, Happy was overjoyed. The Exceed thought that it was an improvement to Natsu's bad mood, but Natsu was about to get much, much worse.

**Natsu's Forest**

Natsu shuffled through the woods, barely there in his mind. His legs moved on his own through the forest. The branches and dead leaves created a path for him to walk through and Natsu shuffled on, carried by some invisible force. He knew deep down that he had to move on with his life, but he was grieving too hard to do anything but mope around. The fire dragon slayer suddenly stopped, Natsu's consciousness slamming back into his body, his head pounding as he let out a scream of pure anger, his face twisting with grief and rage as he slammed his fist into a tree. Natsu heaved as the tree fell, colliding with other trees.

"…It was my fault, wasn't it? It was my fault that Lucy died. I wasn't there to protect her." said Natsu, each word coming out of his throat like it was a punch to the stomach.

The world seemed to twist as Natsu fought to stay conscious. He was alone now, in a small circle of light, his voice echoing around him. Lucy's face was the only image he could see in his mind and then Natsu let out another cry of pure anger. The fire dragon slayer's fists ignited with flames as he swung his arms around, screaming in rage. Natsu jumped and slammed his fists into the ground and then stopped. He was back in the forest. The fire dragon slayer straightened and looked around the forest, his mind clearing as he did so. Green trees, forest floor, logs, house, safety. He took another step forward, afraid that he would fall into another temper tantrum. But he couldn't help it. All the anger he had felt for himself was finally leaking out. Another step. He stopped. He slowly looked down at the ground, a contrast against the dark brown of the dirt and forest floor. A pocket watch lay on the forest floor. Natsu bent to pick it up and looked at it silently. It was battered, rusted, and the hands did not even work. But the watch was enough to bring back the memory of one of Lucy's spirits. The grandfather clock who was always falling asleep. That made Natsu angrier.

He was about throw the watch when something stopped him from doing so. He slowly stopped and he felt his anger go down as he looked down at the watch and slowly smiled, a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. The watch brought him, a certain comfort by invoking memories of Lucy's spirit. The watch was placed in Natsu's pants pocket and the fire dragon slayer quickly ran towards home. Upon reaching his house, he had dinner happily with Happy and soon, he went to sleep, placing the battered pocket watch on the nightstand and then falling asleep.

_Click_

The watch hand moved as Natsu snored.

…

**Well, that was my attempt at anything sad. I probably failed. I honestly had this idea last night and I didn't really think about it throughout the day although I thought about the idea before I fell asleep. I won't be updating this regularly if people don't seem all that interested and I might just delete it entirely. **

**Be warned, there will be OCs in the future. Just deal with it. Also, some references:**

***The queen is not the ruler of Fiore. She is the ruler of the Garlan Empire, the empire that took over Fiore. This takes place many years after the canon, Levy having grown old and passed away before the story took place. **

**Also, please remember that Natsu is actually eighty plus years old in canon so he can be a hundred something in this story and look virtually unchanged. I hope you enjoyed this. FF**


	2. A Guild of Lies

**Thanks for the reviews and alerts! By the way, if you favorite or alert, could you please leave a review? It would mean a lot. Anyways, here is the new chapter! Enjoy.**

Natsu was walking down from the guild when he heard the voice.

"Natsu!"

The fire dragon slayer froze in his tracks, looking around the bright and colorful town of Magnolia. The townspeople were in the marketplace down below and the guild doors were closed. Who had called his name? Natsu shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk down the path, feeling the light breeze on his face. Happy had stayed at home because he was sick and Natsu had stopped by to get medicine from the guild's medical supply.

Natsu was in a much better mood than usual. He smiled as he entered the marketplace, the people of the city milling about, buying things and talking to each other. The marketplace was filled with goods from around the world and Natsu was walking past a statue that was dedicated to Fairy Tail when he heard the voice again.

"Natsu!"

He stopped to look around. Someone was calling his name again! Natsu looked around the marketplace, trying to see whoever was trying to call him. Nobody looked like they were looking for him.

"Hmm, that's strange. Who keeps calling me?" Natsu wondered as he continued into the marketplace.

It was not long until he realized who was calling him. The voice was the one he cherished the most. It was soft and flowed like water. Lucy.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out as he ran throughout the marketplace upon realizing that Lucy was the one calling him.

Natsu's heart raced as he ran past shops and people buying things. Lucy was still alive! She was not dead!

"Natsu!"

Natsu saw a blonde girl waving to him at the end of the marketplace. Natsu grinned from ear to ear as he ran towards the blonde girl. Her face was hidden because of the bright sunlight from the sun, but Natsu knew it was her! He jumped forward, arms spread wide.

"Lucy!"

Natsu opened his eyes. The dragon slayer was lying in his bed, the early sunlight coming in through the window. The sheets and pillows were a mess. They were thrown everywhere and Happy had disappeared from the bed. Natsu sighed as he sat up. It was just a dream. He had been having these dreams for a while now. Natsu stood up from the bed and yawned as he stretched. He quickly put on his vest and scarf as he thought about his dream. Still, despite being disappointed about the dream, he was in a much better mood than usual. His eyes soon drifted over to the pocket watch that was lying on his nightstand. Natsu walked over to the wooden night stand and picked up the watch. He looked at it and wondered if the hand had moved a little bit over the night. He shook his head and put the pocket watch down. He was going to go for a quick walk in the woods. He was about to turn when he heard a voice from behind.

"I see that you have found my pocket watch."

Natsu spun around at the sound of the voice, ready to fight against a possible attacker. In the soft sunlight of the early morning, he saw the form of a young boy standing in the doorway of his room. He was dressed in casual black clothing, but his eyes were strange. One was blue, and the other was red. He had blonde hair and he waved his hand as he stepped closer to Natsu.

"Did you sleep well?" the boy asked as Natsu realized that the boy was the one who had been calling him in his dream.

Natsu growled as he took a step towards the boy. He was the one who had been calling him! But how? How had he made his voice just like Lucy's?

"You are not Lucy…" Natsu said angrily.

The boy let out a short laugh. He looked Natsu in the eye and smiled.

"You're right. I am not Lucy, but…I know how much you cared about her," The boy said as Natsu felt a stab of sadness in his heart.

The boy seemed equally as pained as Natsu as he continued on.

"You would do anything to bring her back, right?" the boy asked as Natsu nodded his head. The boy smiled softly, "Then I can help you. You've been alone for too long, Natsu. Lucy still lives, but you must do anything necessary to bring her back! Are you willing to do what it takes to bring Lucy back?"

Natsu was in no condition to make such a big decision. The boy was obviously some sort of illusion, ghost evil spirit, or something else entirely. Natsu had gone through too much sadness to turn away. Natsu nodded his head slowly, thinking that the price of bringing Lucy back would not be heavy. The boy smiled happily as he nodded his head.

"Excellent! My name is Vincent. I can help you bring Lucy back, but first, you must punish those that have taken her away from you…" the boy said as Natsu struggled to understand.

Natsu remembered the day that the guild discovered that Lucy was murdered. They searched for the culprits, but they were never found. The keys were gone, and the entire house was trashed, all of the valuables were also stolen. Natsu looked at the boy, finding some sort of terrible comfort in his presence.

"I must punish the ones who murdered her?" Natsu asked the boy as he shook his head.

"You must punish those who kept her from you. They are the reason she was murdered! They stalled you. They tricked you! They wanted Lucy to be killed all along! The true criminal is Fairy Tail!" Vincent raved as Natsu struggled to fight against Vincent's words.

Natsu was not very smart, but he knew that Fairy Tail had been with him every step of the way. They had gone down to Lucy's house after Natsu found her dead and they also helped search for clues. There was no way they could have murdered her! She was their nakama! Natsu struggled to fight against Vincent's darkness, but the young boy was too strong, smiling sadly as he came closer to Natsu.

"Poor, Natsu. They lied to you didn't they? You must have forgotten what _really _happened on that day. Here, let me show you…the _truth."_

**Flashback, Lucy's death day**

"Natsu!"

The shriek seemed to tear through the city as Natsu suddenly stood up from where he was sitting in the guild's lunchroom. Lucy. Natsu could have sworn he heard her scream and he took off running to the confusion of his guild mates. Natsu was running as fast as he could and he was halfway through the guild when suddenly Gray jumped in front of him, knocking the two to the ground. Gray was half naked as usual.

"Hey, you flaming idiot! I'm tired of your fighting attitude so let's settle this once and for all!" Gray shouted as hundreds of lances made of ice shot towards Natsu.

Nasu growled as he melted them all with his roar. He didn't have time for this crap!

"Gray, I seriously don't have time for this! Lucy is in trouble!" Natsu shouted as he dodged Gray's Ice Hammer.

Gray just smirked, as scorching heat blasted past him. The ice mage created a bazooka made of ice and aimed it straight at Natsu. Gray smirked as the bazooka locked on to the pink haired fire mage.

"You're just saying that to get out of the fight! This is the end, Natsu!" Gray shouted as the bazooka fired and the missile made of ice hit Natsu and smashed his across the floor.

Natsu let out a roar of impatience as he threw the hunk of ice off of him and took off running towards the door. The fight must have lasted only five minutes, but five minutes was much too long! Lucy was in danger! On the way out, he encountered other distractions from Levy, Mirajane, and Cana. Natsu felt dread as he finally burst out from the guild, running towards Lucy's house in the downtown area.

…

He had been too late. Lucy's body lay on the floor, a bloody knife lying on the floor. The door was smashed in, the tables overturned, the books burned, the valuables stolen, and Lucy dead. Natsu fell to his knees, the red puddle of blood staining his white pants red. Tears fell from the dragon slayer's eyes as he roared in anger. If he had been faster, he could have saved her!

"**Lucy!"**

**End flashback**

Natsu slowly nodded. He understood now. Fairy Tail distracted him. They wanted her to die. Vincent slowly smiled as he saw the darkness wrap around Natsu, forming a swirling barrier of black around the dragon slayer. Natsu was such a weak fool. Vincent walked over to the night stand and picked up the pocket watch and handed it to Natsu. The corrupted mage took it in his hand and put it in his pocket.

"I want you to keep the pocket watch. Think of it as a…gift," Vincent said, half smiling as Natsu nodded his head, "Now go! Punish those who took Lucy from you!" Vincent shouted as Natsu let out a blast of fire so large that it destroyed the entire front of the house as the fire dragon slayer took of running towards Fairy Tail, false memories planted in his head.

**Fairy Tail**

The guild was alive with conversation as usual. It was in the middle of the morning and many people had come for breakfast. Gray and Elfman were talking and Gildartz was looking over the guild, sipping his coffee. The guild was so peaceful, but that peace would soon be shattered. Gray had just finished his breakfast and was going to do grab some water from the bar, when suddenly the wooden doors to the guild slammed open with such force that they shattered into splinters. Gray was startled by the sudden slamming noise and looked over to see Natsu coming into the guild. He seemed a bit different than the last time he saw him. A layer of darkness swirled around him as he entered and Cana made a casual joke as he walked in.

"You pushed the doors a bit too hard, Natsu." Cana said casually.

The reaction was instantaneous. Natsu immediately smashed the beer barrel she was drinking from and quickly blasted her through the guild using his flames. The guild erupted into panic as soon as this happened and Gray stooped what he was doing to fight Natsu.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray shouted as Nab and Elfman joined in the fight against Natsu.

The sharp lances made of sparkling ice smashed into Natsu's layer of darkness, and simply melted away. Elfman's punches did nothing against Natsu's attacks and Nab and Elfman were soon blown away. Gray had already created the hammer made of ice when he froze as he saw Natsu coming towards him.

"N-nothing can even touch him! Natsu! Wake up! It's me, Gray!" he shouted as Natsu slowly grinned.

"I know, Gray. I have already woken up from your lies. This is my vengeance! I will destroy this entire guild of liars and killers! Fire Dragon Slayer's Electric Fire!" Natsu shouted as Gildartz and Mirajane jumped towards him, ready to subdue him.

But they were too late. The electricity flowed through the air, charring every piece of flesh and wood into black crisps. The flames washed over anything else that the electricity had not touched. The explosion was massive, being seen from the marketplace as people screamed and ran away. But among the crowd of people in the marketplace, a single boy smiled darkly at the rising plume. He held a pocket watch, identical to the one Natsu had found only a day before.

"Well done, Natsu."

…

**This was a long chapter to write for me because I kept getting distracted. I hope that it was good! Please review the chapter and I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations! FF**


	3. It's Personal

**Well, exams started today. The ones I have taken so far are easy so I don't have any problems so far, but expect the posts to decline as the week goes on. Here's the next chapter. Review please! Enjoy.**

_The destruction of the Fairy Tail guild disturbed people all over the continent. The event made headlines in every newspaper in circulation as the question was asked: Who was strong enough to do it? _

_Apparently, Natsu was. Under the false hope that he could somehow bring Lucy back from the dead, Natsu destroyed the only family he had ever truly known. The number of killed was unknown, but there were apparently survivors, many of them being taken into the townspeople's homes. _

_However, efforts to track Natsu down ended in failure. Natsu had run off after destroying the guild building, most likely running towards the Fairy Tail cemetery which lay outside of the city. The military had been called in to find Natsu, but they had found nothing so far. _

_Just where was Natsu?_

**Fairy Tail**

"Unbelievable…"

The voice broke through the dismal silence of the wreckage that was once Fairy Tail. A group of people stood amongst the sea of splintered wood and broken memories. Two of the people present were very well known. Sting and Rogue stood in front of the wreckage of the guild, Sting's smirk on his face and Rogue's usual emotionless mask on his face. There were two others, also from Saber Tooth. One was a huge man, standing a head taller than Sting, wearing a dark blue fur jacket with black boots. He was incredibly muscular and towered over Sting and everyone else. His brown hair was cut short and his eyes were dark colored and he stared mournfully at the ruins of Fairy Tail. The other was a woman, around Sting's height. She was wearing something that looked like a school uniform with a dark purple t-shirt and matching skirt. She had the same look of concern that the huge man had on his face.

Sting took a few looks at the ruins and shrugged his shoulders. He did not care about Fairy Tail's wellbeing. In fact, they had come to Fairy Tail for a fight, something Maximilian had called "a friendly spar". Rogue looked across the ruin and cast a glance at the others who had come with him. He was certainly concerned with what had happened, but he was more interested in who had done this. The survivors of the attack pointed Natsu as the one who destroyed the guild. Bailey and Maximilian were most likely inclined to believe otherwise. Rogue waited for one of the others to speak first before presenting his own idea. Maximilian, the huge man, spoke first, his voice unusually solemn.

"To those killed in this attack, rest in peace. We will find Natsu and hunt down the criminals with him!" Maximilian said as he started to turn away, closing his eyes.

Sting snorted and took one last look at the ruins before following Maximilian. Bailey decided to look at the ruins one last time before turning away, but Rogue said something as the group walked away.

"What if it really was Natsu?"

The group stopped in their tracks. The rock solid face of Maximilian glared at Rogue. Bailey had a nervous look on her face as Rogue walked towards the group slowly. Sting just sighed and crossed his arms. Maximilian scowled at Rogue as the dragon slayer came closer. Did he really believe Natsu did this? Natsu was one of the most friendly people he knew!

"Surely you don't believe Natsu was the one who destroyed the guild?" Maximilian said in his deep voice as Rogue nodded his head.

Rogue pointed to the ruins of the guild, knowing that he was correct. The others may be trying to fight the truth, but it was Natsu without a doubt.

"What reason would Natsu have for running away after the attack? Why do all the survivors name Natsu as the attacker? These things don't add up. If it isn't Natsu, then I don't know who else it could be." Rogue said seriously as Bailey took a step forward, trying to defend her friend.

"That's impossible! Natsu would never hurt anyone from Fairy Tail!" Bailey said, her face worried as Sting turned to face her, his cocky smile never even disappearing from his face.

"Just face it Bailey, it was Natsu. There's no one else it could have been!" Sting said, smirking.

Maximilian growled a little bit as he thought everything through. Deep down inside, he knew Rogue was right. Natsu was the culprit. The huge man let out a sigh of sadness and put his face in one hand. Had it really been Natsu?

"Rogue, you're right. I had a sneaking suspicion as well, but I didn't want to face the truth. I'm sorry for doubting you, Rogue." Maximilian apologized as Rogue nodded his head.

Bailey also apologized as Sting rolled his eyes. Everyone was soft around here. Even Rogue had become a little squishy during his time with the other members of Saber Tooth. But one question still remained: where was Natsu? Bailey asked this exact question and Rogue nodded his head, trying to come up with the best answer to the question. Finally, the black haired dragon slayer decided to present his answer.

"Natsu was rumored to be heading in the direction of the Fairy Tail cemetery, right?" Rogue asked as everyone nodded, "Well, I think this is wrong. Why would Natsu be running to the Fairy Tail cemetery? He just killed at least a dozen of his friends, so why go there? No, I think he's hiding around Magnolia in a completely different direction. Perhaps a forest or something. I don't rule out the ridiculous idea that he's been possessed by some sort of creature or ghost. This isn't about what sounds the most plausible. This is about who the culprit is and why they did the crime. We aren't members of Fairy Tail, but we have to act like we are, because when it gets personal, there is no mercy."

**?**

Heavy breathing seemed to echo through the dark forest as moonlight streamed through the foliage of the forest. Patches of light and darkness were everywhere as Natsu leaned against the trunk of a large tree, pocket watch in hand. For the last few hours it had been his only interest as he gazed into the pocket watch, closing it and opening it. It reminded him of Lucy. The only piece of the pocket watch that seemed to undamaged was the time adjustment dial. It was shiny and silver unlike the rusted body and cracked and dusty glass. Even through corrupt eyes, Natsu only thought of Lucy. Natsu was playing with the pocket watch in silence when suddenly the voice came through the pocket watch and into Natsu's mind, bouncing around like a ball smashed into the floor.

"**Turn the dial, Natsu…"**

Natsu's hands seemed to move mechanically as the hand trembled as it grasped the small dial on top of the watch. Natsu's eyes were filled with darkness as he started to turn the dial, the hand slowly moving counterclockwise. The wind howled and the trees suddenly started to bend towards Natsu as the watch's hand moved backwards.

"**Turn the dial, Natsu…"**

Natsu's lips moved slowly as the dial turned, twisting time forever.

"Ok, I will, for you, Lucy."

…

**Short chapter. Sorry if it wasn't that good. I wanted to introduce Saber Tooth and the two OCs I plan to use. I decided to make Rogue the detective because he seems like the type. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter! FF**


	4. Dragneel

**Looks like people are starting to lose interest in this story. Oh well, I have to finish it to set up the atmosphere for my next big project. This will be the last chapter. Keep in mind that Vector is **_**very **_**powerful and is a Wizard Saint. Enjoy and leave a review. **

Gray sat alone in the old hotel in Magnolia's downtown area. His wounds were slowly healing but the fact that a jagged piece of railway had gone straight through his right arm was making recovery difficult. However, it was the emotional aspect that was making it difficult. Gray couldn't sleep well at night because of the guilt he felt. Had he really pushed his friend to the edge? The questions kept pounding inside Gray's mind as he sat in his hotel room, sipping a cup of water, trying not to go insane from the guilt. He was sitting in an old wooden chair, facing the window and looking out over the marketplace. He riveted his eyes towards the marketplace and never looked up. He couldn't face the ruins of Fairy Tail.

It was late in the afternoon when the door to his hotel room slammed open, sending the ice mage flying out of his chair, a sword made of ice in his hand, ready to face whoever had dared to enter his room without permission. Gray's expression only hardened when he saw the smug face of Sting in the doorway. Rogue quickly entered after the smug dragon slayer and Gray lowered his sword, still glaring at the two dragon slayers from Saber Tooth.

"What do you want, kittens?" Gray growled as Sting spit in anger and tried to attack Gray, held back by Rogue.

The white dragon slayer regained his composure and Rogue looked into Gray's eyes, knowing that the ice mage must have been traumatized by the attack. Gray and most of the survivors had been taken to the hotel to rest until the guild building was repaired. Rogue had to be careful not to make Gray angry. Violence was not what they wanted right now. Rogue took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to make this conversation as short as possible. Time was running out.

"Where's Natsu." asked Rogue bluntly.

Gray groaned and he threw the sword to the ground and moved the chair he had been sitting in to face Sting and Rogue. He sat himself down in it and he picked up the cup of water and started sipping it. He was not happy with the two dragon slayers. He glared at Sting especially.

"So, you want to find Natsu? Well you're out of luck because I don't know where he is. I've been busy trying to recover." explained Gray as he pointed to his wound.

Rogue grimaced on the inside. Wielding that sword back there must have been difficult. Gray smirked a little and continued on, feeling his guilt turn into anger at the Saber Tooth dragon slayers for bringing the subject in front of his face.

"Why do you even care about Natsu? I thought you kittens would be happy about Fairy Tail being destroyed, another rival gone and all that garbage," Gray asked darkly.

It was Sting's turn to smirk. Rogue didn't stop him from snapping back at the ice mage.

"Heh, yeah, I really don't give a rat's ass about Fairy Tail's wellbeing. But you see, I really hate it when I don't have someone to play around with and I considered Natsu to be my best plaything. With him gone, I can't have any fun. So will you just hurry the hell up and tell us where Natsu is hiding?" Sting sneered as Rogue put his hand in front of Sting.

"Stop it, Sting, Gray already told us that he doesn't know where Natsu is. Let's get out of here," Rogue said quietly as Sting smirked and turned to leave the hotel room.

"…Go to Vector."

Gray's single sentence made Rogue turn around to look at the ice mage. Gray was looking into his cup of water and the sun was starting to go down as the warm light started to escape the room, shadows crawling up the walls of the room.

"Go to Vector, the Wizard Saint. Natsu was encased in some sort of shield of darkness and none of our attacks could get through. I assume that light will be the only way we can even make a dent in such a thing. Vector will probably know where Natsu is hiding," Gray said sadly as Rogue nodded and left the hotel with Sting.

Maximilian and Bailey were waiting for them outside of the hotel and Rogue turned to Bailey as they walked down the sidewalk, the sun almost completely gone and the streetlights turning on.

"Gray said Vector of Illuminati would be able to help us. Come on, we should hurry." Rogue said as the group took off running towards the direction of Westcliff, home of the Illuminati.

**Guild building of Illuminati **

"We need to see Vector!"

The shout rang out through the guild building of Illuminati, the guild of holy monks devoted to the wellbeing of others. Most of the monks were asleep, but a few were on guard duty and the group of mages suddenly appearing at the door to the guild was a definite surprise. The doors to the guild were opened and the mages came in, out of breath. They continued to beg the monks on duty to allow them to see Vector, but the monks refused, saying that the guild master needed his sleep.

"No, let them see me. I do not mind."

The Saber Tooth mages looked to see an iron door with the name "Kane" stamped into it slowly open to reveal a lightly tanned man come from behind it, wearing white robes and his brown hair sticking up at any odd end. His eyes seemed brown from the torches hanging from the walls of the guild.

"What is it you wanted to see me about?" asked Vector, smiling a little bit.

"You've heard of the attack on Fairy Tail, right?" asked Rogue as Vector nodded, the monks around him bowing their heads, "Well, we need your help in tracking down the one who attacked the guild."

Vector stared at Rogue for a minute and laughed. Vector led the group of mages outside and into the cool night air.

"You said that you wanted to find Natsu, right? Well-" Vector's words were interrupted by a horrible screeching noise, like metal grinding against rock and the shrieks filled the air as the group covered their ears.

The line of sight seemed to twist towards a single area, a dense forest area a little ways from Westcliff. The world seemed to slant sideways as Vector grimly pointed towards where the slanted world was pointing.

"That is where your friend is at. Hurry, we must make sure he has not been completely corrupted with Evil." Vector said as he led the group towards the wooden elevator they had taken to get up to the guild.

While the elevator went down, Rogue wondered about what Vector had said before. Had this kind of thing happened before?

**?**

"**Turn the watch, Natsu."**

The hands of the watch were turning, slowly turning back time. Natsu held the rusty watch in his hand, moving the dial backwards, causing the world to shift around him. Metallic shrieks filled the air as Natsu joyfully turned the watch.

"L-Lucy." Natsu mumbled as he continued to turn the watch.

He was doing this for Lucy, his one love. He would bring Lucy back to life! Suddenly a bright light filled Natsu's eyes stinging them. The fire dragon slayer shielded his eyes as he growled at the group of five people standing in front of him. Sting and Rogue! Natsu growled as a man in white robes stepped forward, holding the lantern.

The man in the white robes passed his eyes over Natsu once and nodded. So Evil was at it again.

"Be gone, darkness! Purge!" Vector shouted as light shot from his fingers towards Natsu who quickly dodged, the tree snapping in half.

Natsu landed on the ground easily and counterattacked viciously. His fist erupted into flames with traces of black inside them. Vector grimaced. He was almost gone.

"Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu roared as he rocketed forward with intense speed.

Vector tried to dodge the punch, but he was too slow, taking the full force of the punch. Vector's eyes were wide open in shock. How was Natsu this fast? The lantern fell from Vector's hands and broke open on the grass of the forest, a small fire starting. Vector smashed into the ground near the fire and quickly stood up, looking at the Saber Tooth mages.

"I don't want to kill him so I'll get rid of the shielding for you, but are you willing to go to your limits to defeat him?" Vector asked darkly as he stood up, grabbing his stomach.

The Saber Tooth mages gave him a nod and Vector put his hands together to finish off the barrier of darkness that encased Natsu. It was quite the barrier, but it was nothing a Wizard Saint who was famous for his intense light magic couldn't handle. Vincent had underestimated them. Vector put his hands together and laughed as light gathered in front of his hands.

"I'd love to see you try to dodge this!" he shouted as the light shot out, filling the entire forest.

Natsu tried to outrun the light, but it soon burned away the darkness that had protected him. He was still holding the pocket watch, Vincent battling within him.

"GO!" Vector shouted as Maximilian and Bailey shot forward, ready to subdue Natsu.

Natsu saw the two Saber Tooth mages running towards him and panicked, letting out a sudden scream of pure sadness and despair. He said only one word.

"**Lucy!**"

The world seemed to slow down as Maximilian's fist slowly came towards Natsu's face. The pocket watch ticked in Natsu's hand.

_Tick tock tick tock_

"**TURN THE DIAL, NATSU!"**

The dark voice that screamed from within Natsu broke the control that Vincent had used to control Natsup to this point. However, in the sudden panic, Natsu yanked the dial on the pocket watch back, the hands on the watch skipping past several numbers. There was a terrible shriek and then darkness.

…

Natsu slowly woke up, rubbing his head. He down at his muddy clothes and wiped some of the mud off of his clothes and slowly stood up, looking around the forest. Something had changed. Maximilian, Sting, Rogue, and Bailey were lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. The only person who was awake was the man in the white robes. Natsu looked around, slightly panicked. Where was he? Suddenly something drifted past his eyes. He held out his hand and black flakes landed on his hand. Black snowflakes?

"No, ashes."

Natsu looked up to see the man in the white robes giving him a disapproving look. He had an angry look on his face. He walked over to Natsu and reached down to pick up a rusty pocket watch that lay on the wet forest floor. He looked at, smiling.

"So this was his most recent tool…" the man said as he turned away from Natsu to leave the forest.

"Wait! What's going on here! Why are there ashes falling from the sky! Help me!" Natsu called after the man.

Natsu recoiled when he saw the man's angry expression on his face. The man turned to face Natsu, fists clenched.

"Then come with me and see what you have done."

…

Flames everywhere. Blood everywhere. Bodies everywhere. Natsu had been led to the small village close to the forest where they had been and they stood on a hill and watched as flames consumed a village. Vector stared down at the flames and then looked at Natsu.

"The pocket watch that you foolishly used to bring back Lucy altered the course of history. Fortunately for you, Lucy is indeed alive in this current world. However, she is a slave. I am forbidden from telling you who she belongs to, however, I believe it will be easy to find her if you look hard enough." The man said darkly, the ashes carrying over the hot air of the flames.

Natsu's eyes widened in despair as the village buildings started to collapse. He turned to the man, desperate to know if Fairy Tail was still alive.

"What about Fairy Tail? Please, I have to know!" Natsu begged the man.

"Call me Vector by the way. As for Fairy Tail, they are the ones responsible for the burning of this village. Your foolish actions have made the world so that it is almost like Edolas. You were tricked by the god of Evil. I serve the goddess of Life, and I am forbidden from telling you anything about what has happened because I am afraid that not even the goddess of Life can reverse this. Here," Vector handed Natsu a piece of paper, "This will help you understand everything. I wish you luck."

…

_The paper read as this: The pocket watch was a tool to turn back time. Evil planned to use Natsu to turn back time in order to turn back time far enough to destroy Kane and the Illuminati. However, Natsu was disrupted during the process, warping the process. Now, the world is dark and is ruled by several warlords. The only patch of land that has not been touched are the Fog Isles. Fiore is ruled by a tyrant named Julius Silence and his secret police is made up of members of Fairy Tail. The stage is set. The world has been completely twisted, almost mirroring Edolas. People do not have the same personalities. Amose Keel is certain to rise among this discontent. This is no longer about the foolish actions of Natsu Dragneel. This is about holding the entire world together._

…

**There you go. This story is more of a set up story for the next big project I have. Review if you liked it. FF**


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